


Goldenrod

by thepensword



Series: Ficlets and Drabbles of the Fandom Variety [6]
Category: Amulet (Graphic Novels), Avatar: The Last Airbender, Steven Universe (Cartoon), Young Avengers (Comics), 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Advice, Character Study, Gen, character meetings, crossovers, introspective
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-23
Updated: 2017-11-11
Packaged: 2018-11-04 03:45:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10982682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thepensword/pseuds/thepensword
Summary: There is a plain of yellow grass on the reverse side of existence, and it is here that they meet. Sometimes they are reflections. Sometimes, they are the teacher and the one in need of teaching. Always they leave with something extra.(Wherein any two characters from any fandom may meet and converse for the sake of my self-indulgence.)





	1. Zuko + Trellis

**Author's Note:**

> These are fairly unconnected, and the names of the featured characters are in each chapter title, so feel free to skip to the fandoms that you know.

It goes like this.

They meet on a plain of yellow grass, on the reverse side of reality where dreams takes place. This, however, is not a dream.

They are mirror images, though neither can say for sure which is the reflection and which the reflected.

“Who are you?” says one after time passes with no meaning.

“That’s my own business.”

“Fair enough.”

 

* * *

 

Fragrant wind blows the yellow grass and time ticks along its non-linear path through this plane of existence.

“My father gave me this scar,” says the dark-haired one after a while has passed them by. He taps the warped flesh beneath his eye and continues, “He gave it to me along with a lesson, though not the one I think he wished to give.”

The pale one nods. “My scar came from my father’s hand, but he himself is dead. I’ve only just discovered, though, how he gave it and how he is nothing but a shell. I had forgotten.”

“How did you forget where you got your scar?”

The pale one glances off into the plain, looking at nothing at all. “There are many holes in my memory.”

“Holes?”

“They were stolen. By order of the creature that is no longer my father.”

“I think,” says the flame-eyed one. “That my father was always a creature.”

* * *

 

Surrounded by yellow grass stand two princes who should be kings. Two boys who only bent when by all accounts they should have broken.

“I am Trellis,” says the elven boy as the field begins to fade.

There is a pause when the boy born of flame considers, before responding, “My name is Zuko.”

Then, reality rights itself and the reflection is gone.

 


	2. Garnet + Billy

This is how it happens the second time.

Two people stand in a field of yellow grass. They are not reflections, but one holds a lesson for the other.

“What—where am I? Who are you?” says the boy.

“Hm,” says the woman. Her eyes are hidden, but they scan the field and see the warped reality for what it is.

The boy closes his eyes and stretches his mind, touching and feeling and learning.

“This is not my reality,” he says. “And neither is it yours.”

“No,” says the woman.

“My name’s Billy.”

“Garnet.”

 

* * *

 

“He thinks I might be controlling him. He thinks I might have _created_ him. And I can’t say for certain that he’s wrong.”

The woman is silent. She is thinking.

“Do you love him?”

“Do I—yes! Of course!”

“Does he love you?”

Without hesitation: “Yes.”

“Then does it matter?”

 

* * *

 

Meaningless time passes. And later:

“No. I guess…I guess it doesn’t.”

The woman smiles. “Then that’s your answer.”

“What is?”

“ _Love_.”

 


	3. Zuko + Shouto

Wind blows the grass, yellow waves rippling across the fields as the world turns around itself and opens up into the third time.

Two boys stand opposite. One has been here before. The other has not, and he is frightened, but his face does not show it.

“Who are you?” says the latter. “Where am I?”

The other stares at him with lips just parted. “I’ve been here before,” he says. “I’ve done this before.” He inspects the burn scar on the other boy’s face and touches his own, matching scar, puckered red skin around his eye.

“I think,” he says. “That we are meant to talk.”

 

* * *

 

 

“Who gave you that scar?” asks the boy who has been here before. The one who has not eyes him warily in return.

“That’s private," says the boy who has not.

“Alright.”

 

* * *

 

 

“Mine is from the man who would call himself my father, though he has done nothing to deserve the title.”

The boy who has not been here sighs. Frost creeps along the tips of the yellow grass, turning it from gold to white. “It was given to me by my mother,” he says, and his words carry pain. “But it was not her who was at fault.”

“Who was?”

“My father,” replies the boy with hair of red and white. “The blame lies with him, for breaking her and trying to shape me.”

“Will you let him?” asks the other boy, who himself has been manipulated by a father who did nothing but harm.

“No,” comes the reply after a moment of thought. “He doesn’t control me.”

“Good.”

 

* * *

 

 

A breeze blows through their hair, smelling of autumn leaves and blooming flowers. The sky stretches larger above them, blue growing bluer and colors brightening even as they fade.

“I think our time is up,” says the boy who has twice now learned a lesson from this world.

The other says nothing.

“Good luck.”

“Thank you,” replies the boy of dualities, and his voice is soft.

The grass reaches up to touch the sky, which in turn crashes down to meet it. The wind gusts through the fields and the plane is empty once more.

**Author's Note:**

> If you have any suggestions for characters that you would like to meet, drop a comment. I seriously need ideas.


End file.
